Citrus & Spice Soda Bread

• 1 1/2 C AP flour
• 1/2 C whole wheat or rye flour
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• 6 T unsalted butter
• 5 T demerara or turbinado sugar, divided
• 1/2 t cardamom
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/4 t mace
• 1 egg
• zest of 1 medium lemon
• zest of 1 small orange
• 1/3 C lemon & orange juice
• 1/4 C buttermilk

Sift together all dry ingredients. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or your fingers until it resembles small peas. After zesting your lemon and orange, juice them into a small bowl and measure out 1/3 C of the juice, reserving the remainder for another use or recipe. In a small bowl mix together the egg, lemon and orange zests, 3 T of the sugar, citrus juice and buttermilk.

Add to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Gather into a ball and place in a buttered 8″ cake pan. Press lightly into a disc and sprinkle with 1-2 T of the remaining sugar. Bake at 375°F for 35 minutes or until lightly browned and firm to the touch.  Let rest for 10 minutes, and then slice into wedges with a bread knife and serve with butter and jam and/or honey.

Curried Red Lentils

• 2 C red lentils (masoor dal), rinsed in several changes of cold water
• 2 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
• 4 coins of ginger
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cloves
• 1 t red pepper flakes
• 1/2 yellow onion

In about 3-4 C of water, cook the lentils along with the aromatics for about 10-15 minutes until just slightly underdone. Remove from the heat and salt the water generously and let sit for 20 minutes.  When ready to use, drain, remove the aromatics (except red pepper flakes) and add to pot.

• 5 large cloves of garlic
• 3″ piece of peeled ginger, coarsley chopped
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 1/2 t kalonji (nigella) seeds
• 1/2 t cumin seeds
• 1/2 t fennel seeds
• 2 t of your favourite curry powder, or more to taste. I like a Madras curry powder.
• 1 qt tomatoes (home canned if possible)
• 3/4-1 C of either cream, half & half or plain yoghurt, or a combination of those, to taste (optional)
• 1 t garam masala*
• chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

Purée the garlic, ginger and onion with a little water until a thick, smooth paste forms. Toast the whole spices in some ghee or oil in a heavy-bottomed pot until toasted, 1-2 minutes and then add in the curry powder and cook about 30 seconds until brown. Add in the garlic-ginger-onion paste and sauté until very thick and reduced by at least half. Add in the tomatoes and cook until the juices have reduced somewhat. Next add in the cooked lentils and continue to cook until the lentils are quite soft. Check for salt, and stir in the garam masala and cream/yoghurt and remove from the heat. Serve over rice and top with chopped cilantro and more garam masala if desired.

*I prefer to make my own garam masala (and often curry powders) from whole spices. Whole spices are extremely inexpensive when purchased either online or in a Indian (or similar) grocery store in bulk. I keep my whole spices in glass jars in a cool pantry and they last for years. I keep a large variety of spices that are useful for Indian, SE Asian, Mexican, and many other types of recipes on hand so I can toast and grind them fresh when I need them. The flavour is far superior to store-bought spices and it is way cheaper.

Quick Pickled Red Onions

2 red onions, sliced as thinly as possible
juice of 2 lemons and 2 limes
2 t kosher salt
1 1/2 T white sugar
white wine vinegar

Slice the onions as thinly as you can possibly manage and place into a large, non-reactive bowl. Add salt and sugar. Juice citrus over the onions and then add just enough white wine vinegar so that the onions are just barely covered with liquid. Stir well, cover, and set out at room temperature for 3-4 hours. Drain and serve, reserving the lovely pink liquid to pickle/dress more onions or any number of vegetables: jicama, carrots, cucumbers, kohlrabi, etc.

Serve as the topping to any sandwich, on tacos, alongside or in coleslaw, on fish, in a green salad, and so on. This is also great with any citrus: orange, tangerine, kumquat, even grapefruit.

Orange-Anise Ice Cream

2 C heavy cream
1 C whole milk
1/2 C + 2 T sugar, divided
1/3 C corn syrup
1/4 t salt
6 egg yolks
1 vanilla bean
1 1/2 t lightly crushed anise seeds (Note, this is NOT star anise)
zest of 2 oranges
1/2 t orange extract (optional)

Mix together the cream, milk, corn syrup and half the sugar in a sauce pan. Add a split vanilla bean pod scraped of all the seeds, the crushed anise seeds and the orange zest and extract if using. Heat on medium-low, stirring intermittently. Remove from heat once the mixture has reached 175°F. Pass through a fine sieve to remove the orange zest and anise seeds, retaining as much of the vanilla caviar as possible. Remove the vanilla bean.

Beat the egg yolks with the remainder of the sugar. Temper by slowly adding 1 C of the hot cream mixture to the yolks and whisking until incorporated. Add this back to the rest of the hot cream and return to the stove-top. Heat up to 180°F until thickened, whisking constantly so it doesn’t stick. If you do get a few bits that are thickened too much, you can pass this again through a sieve.

Immediately pour into a bowl and let sit on counter until no longer steaming, about 10-15 min. Transfer to the freezer for 1 – 1 1/2 hours until well chilled.

Place chilled custard in ice cream maker and churn for 30-45 minutes. Place in freezer container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving. Makes approximately 1 quart.

*By using some corn syrup instead of all sugar, we interfere with the formation of large ice crystals and consequently the ice cream has a smoother texture.

Peanut Sauce II

3/4 C all-natural crunchy peanut butter
1/3 C coconut milk
2 thai chillies or sriracha to taste
4 garlic cloves
2 shallots
1 1/2″ piece of ginger
2 T fish sauce
2 T soya sauce
juice and zest of 2 limes
2 T grated palm sugar or brown sugar
1/3 C cilantro leaves and stems
Crushed peanuts to garnish

Put 1/4 C of the peanut butter in a food processer along with the rest of the ingredients. Pulse until well mixed and the aromatics are finely minced. Mix into the remaining peanut butter until evenly incorporated. If too thin, add more peanut butter, if too thick, more coconut milk. Garnish with crushed roasted peanuts.

Roasted Garlic & Sun-Dried Tomato Breadsticks

• 1 C white whole wheat flour
• 1 – 1 1/2 C unbleached AP flour
• 1 C warm water (100-110F)
• 2 1/4 t yeast
• 1 t kosher salt
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large head roasted garlic
• 1/4 chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• cornmeal

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Cut off the top of the garlic bulb so that all the cloves are exposed. Drizzle and then rub with 2 t olive oil. Wrap in foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour.

Soak your tomatoes in hot water until rehydrated. Discard water, chop coarsely.

Once the garlic comes out of the oven, let cool and then squeeze out of the paper with your fingers or the back of  a chef’s knife.

Whisk yeast into warm water and let stand 10 minutes. Meanwhile assemble the remaining ingredients and mix together in a large bowl. Add in the garlic and chopped sun-dried tomatoes until evenly spread throughout the flour. Add in the water/yeast mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until just incorporated. Turn out onto floured surface and knead until stretchy and soft, adding more flour as needed.

Put into washed, greased bowl (I grease it with the left-over oil from the garlic) and let rise for 30-45 minutes until doubled in size.

Pre-heat oven to 375F, punch down the dough and divide into 10-12 balls. Roll into logs and dust with cornmeal.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or just until golden brown on top.

Serve along side pasta with extra marinara and/or extra virgin olive oil for dipping.

Homemade Citrus Ginger Beer

Inspired by this recipe for ginger syrup by my friend Nick.

1 lb fresh ginger, washed and coarsely chopped
juice and zest of 2 lemons
juice and zest of 2 limes
2 C white sugar
2 C light brown sugar
enough water to add to the lemon & lime juice to make 3 C liquid

Add all ingredients to a saucepan. Stir to combine the sugar slightly. Bring to a boil and then reduce and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the sugar syrup is highly flavoured with the ginger and citrus. Pour through a very fine sieve and refrigerate.

To make ginger beer: Add cold syrup into glass. For a 12 oz glass a couple tablespoons will likely do nicely, but this is definitely to taste. Top with very cold soda water. Stir. Drink. Ice is optional.

This is a great cocktail mixer and goes great with: dark rum for a dark & stormy, gin, vodka, even tequila.

Makes about 1 – 1 1/4 quarts of syrup depending on how much liquid you boil off.

Cider Braised Cabbage with Leeks

3 T olive oil
4 medium leeks, white and light green portions sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
1 1/2 t dried thyme
1 small red cabbage cored and finely shredded
1 1/2 C hard cider
OR 1 C chicken/vegetable stock and 1/2 C apple cider
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 T chopped fresh dill

Sauté the leeks, thyme and garlic in the olive oil, sprinkling with kosher salt to sweat, about 1-2 min. Add in the shredded cabbage and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper and sauté several minutes more just until the cabbage starts to wilt and begins to brown. Add in the cider, bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer for about 10 minutes, or until almost all of the liquid has evaporated and you have a rather thickish sauce. You want the cabbage to be moist but not dripping in liquid, but not dry either. Remove from the heat and add in the lemon zest, juice and dill, checking for seasoning and adding more salt and pepper if needed. Great on its own or as a side dish alongside pork chops and some mashed turnips.

Herby Crab Dip

1 1/2 C plain, full-fat greek yoghurt (or plain yoghurt drained overnight in a fine sieve or cheesecloth, then measured to 1 1/2 C)
1/2 C light mayonnaise
1/2-3/4 lb crab meat, chopped
1 T minced fresh dill
2 T minced fresh Italian parsley
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 C finely shredded very sharp white cheddar cheese
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 t worchestershire sauce
1/4 t kosher salt
tabasco sauce to taste OR cayenne
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 t white sugar if needed to balance flavours

Serve with a vegetable and cracker tray and a side dish of cocktail sauce.

This is also easily made vegetarian with the omission of the crab and replacement of traditional worchestershire sauce with a vegetarian kind or even a soya sauce like tamari.

Spiced Pear Cake with Bourbon Caramel Icing

This recipe is based on this recipe at Food52.com.

Cake:
1/2 pound unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
5 eggs
1 cup white, unbleached all purpose flour or cake flour
2 cups soft white winter whole wheat flour or whole wheat cake flour, sifted and bran discarded
2 teaspoons cinnamon/cassia
1/2 teaspoon mace: if not available, increase nutmeg to 1/2 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon star anise (1 star anise pod)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 pears (or apples), peeled, cored, and diced
crushed walnuts to garnish top of cake

Icing:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
3 T good bourbon, i.e. Maker’s Mark. Also great would be brandy or Calvados
1 1/2 – 2 cups icing sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch of salt

If using whole spices, as I do, use a well-heaping measure of each and then grind fresh in a spice grinder. The only spice I keep pre-ground on-hand is cinnamon which I grind fresh every couple weeks a stick or two at a time.

Cream the butter, shortening and sugars together until very well incorporated and have lightened in colour and become quite fluffy. Add in the vanilla, salt, and eggs one at a time beating after each egg just until it is incorporated.

Sift the dry ingredients together twice, discarding any bran that is left behind. Alternating with the milk, add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix just until incorporated, being certain not to over-mix. Carefully fold in the diced fruit with a rubber spatula.

Pour into a greased and floured tube pan and bake at 325F for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Start checking at 1 hour and 5 minutes being careful not to over bake or it will dry out.

To make the icing: in a small pot, melt the butter. Remove from the heat and whisk in the brown sugar, cream, and bourbon, mixing until smooth. Return to the heat and bring to a boil, boiling for 1 minute. Allow to cool, and then beat in the vanilla and the icing sugar until a smooth, thick paste is formed. You want it to be thick enough to not run off the cake, but not so thick that you can’t spread it without tearing the cake. I find that icing the cake whilst the icing is still a bit warm helps avoid any tearing and allows it to adhere better.